Immigrant Families Mark Father’s Day with Protests, Other Actions Nationwide

Local vigil and community demonstration with community testimonies by mothers to take place in Immokalee

For millions of immigrant families, Father’s Day is a reminder of the cruel separation of their families at the hands of the broken immigration system. Mass enforcement, detention and deportation continue to tear our families and communities apart. Every day in the U.S. 1,500 fathers, mothers, children and friends are taken away and locked-up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Immigrant communities across the country will hold “Father’s Day is for Families” actions to remind Congress and the Obama administration that family separations must end now. Family unity must be a vital part of any immigration reform legislation.

In Immokalee, dozens of families and allies from Southwest Florida will gather together to send a clear message to Congress and the Obama administration that we need a moratorium on deportations and we need to keep families together. Leonarda, a lee county mother, will share her own testimony about the economic and emotional hardship she has suffered being without her husband for several months. He is currently detained in Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach. Another mother who is a US citizen married to an undocumented immigrant, will speak to how hard it has been to raise her three children without her husband, who is currently in Mexico unable to return to the United States. Many other local families will share personal testimonies of why father’s day reminds them of the person they miss most dearly.

WHEN: Sunday, June 16th at 3 PM

WHAT: Vigil and community demonstration

WHO: Children and families will gather with pictures and visuals depicting fathers in the community who we have lost to deportation or detention; community organizations will also be present.

WHERE: RCMA, 402 Main Street, Immokalee, FL; we will gather outside in the parking lot.

The event is sponsored by the Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC) and the Farmworkers Association of FL (FWAF). View the more than 30 events taking place in the country this weekend here

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Visit www.floridaimmigrant.org for more information on the FLIC. Currently, FLIC has been leading the campaign for an approval on immigration reform in the state of Florida.